Various cooking fats and oils have been used in home, restaurant and commercial kitchens to prevent foods from sticking to hot cooking surfaces such as griddles and to flavor and brown the food as well. These substances, which typically include as their principal ingredients a partially hydrogenated vegetable oil and lecithin, may be dispensed simply by ladling a quantity out of an open top receptacle onto the hot griddle. Another substance often used, butter, is melted in a receptacle and poured onto the griddle or applied to the food with a brush. However, because these methods tend to be wasteful and ineffective if an excessive amount is applied, cooking fats and oils are supplied in aerosol cans which provide considerably greater control over the amount of liquid dispensed and its distribution along the cooking surface. Since the contents of these dispensers are under high pressure, however, great care must be exercised when using these containers around sources of heat such as stoves.
An approach to the dispensing of non-stick cooking liquids by spraying which avoids the use of pressurized aerosol cans is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,011,992 issued Mar. 15, 1977 to Olsen. There, a dispensing bottle fitted with a pump-type sprayer is supported on a stand at a predetermined height above the griddle with the object of maintaining the temperature of the non-stick cooking liquid at a level at which the viscosity thereof is sufficiently reduced to permit its application to the griddle by spraying. In accordance with the teachings of the Olsen patent, the stand is designed to maintain the temperature of the contents of the bottle at about 120.degree. F. with a griddle temperature ranging from 385.degree. to 400.degree. F.
The stand disclosed in the Olsen patent is constructed of stainless steel wire shaped to define four legs and a bottle holder. The bottle rests on a stainless steel plate, either solid or perforated, carried by the wire stand. The heat conducting elements of the Olsen stand help to transmit heat from the griddle to the bottle to raise the temperature of the contents to the desired level. The Olsen stand, however, tends to be bulky, not only taking up a relatively large area of the griddle but supporting the bottle at a relatively high level. If the height of the stand is reduced substantially below the 41/2 inches suggested in the patent, portions of the stand can become too hot to touch.